Students celebrate Festival of Colors

The Indian Student Association will celebrate the arrival of spring with a celebration of Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors, from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, at the University Lake.

It hasn’t seemed much like spring lately, but warmer weather is on the way and Pittsburg State University’s Indian Students Association (ISA) is eager for Americans to join them as they say an emphatic ‘goodbye’ to winter on Saturday, March 30.

The ISA will host Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors, from noon to 3 p.m. on March 30, at the University Lake. Holi is a Hindu festival observed at the end of the winter season on the last full-moon day of the lunar month. It marks the victory of good over evil and its most notable aspect is that participants throw colored powder and colored water at each other and dance in wild celebration.

In India, participants light bonfires on the eve of the festival to recall the Hindu story of young Prahlad, who was carried into the fire by Demoness Holika. Holika was burned but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of the Hindu god Vishnu, escaped without injury because of his unshakable devotion.